Introduction

The city of Brockton Massachusetts was originally part of the town of Bridgewater; it
separated from Bridgewater in 1821 and became North Bridgewater. Then in 1874 the city
decided to further part themselves from Bridgewater by changing their name Brockton. During
the Civil War Brockton had a thriving shoe and leather industry that thrived for decades after the
war. The Brockton that we know today is part of Plymouth County and has a population of
94,304 people. Brockton is 25 miles south of Massachusettss capital Boston and is 35 miles
northeast of Rhode Islands capital Providence. Massachusetts State highway 24 runs through the
city. It is also located near Interstate Highways I-93, I-495, and I-195. Brocktons economy no
longer thrives off of shoes and leather but it is more service industry based. The city is also
known as the city of champions. It got this nickname because it is the native city of the former
undefeated heavy weight-boxing champion Rocky Marciano as well as the former middleweight
boxing champion Marvin Hagler (Info, 2016). Brockton is a beautiful community with various
opportunities, but like every community it suffers homelessness. Brockton suffers homelessness
due to diverse reasons, ranging from homeless Veterans, struggling homeless Children and teens,
to struggling Addicts trying to find a place to sleep at night (Clark, 1996). National Homeless
Persons Memorial Day is an awareness day our country has observed for the past 25 years, on
December 21. The day serves as a memoriam to those who deceased while homeless. December
21, the longest night of the year, raises awareness for the major impact of homelessness on our
citizens and communities. Homelessness has declined by 2 percent since 2014 and 11 percent
since 2007. This decline is the result of shared volunteers work, advocates, organizations, and
government agencies. Today Homelessness continues to have a major impact on peoples lives,

and these efforts to combat homelessness need continual support (Centers for Disease Control
and Preventions, 2015).
Community Needs
If you were to ask people who do not live in Brockton what they think of when they hear
Brockton, they would most likely say something around the lines of dangerous, ghetto,
predominantly black and lots of people on welfare. Although Brockton has a less than
stellar reputation, rumors are not also always true. For example, Brockton is not predominantly
black, instead it is mostly white with 44.2%, 39.4 black and 7.8% Hispanic (Data, 2016). The
average median household income is 51,274, which are 15,494 lower than the average median
state income of Massachusetts at 66,768 (Data, 2016). However, a possible solution to the lower
income problem in Brockton could lie in the 677.5-million-dollar casino proposed to be built at
Brockton Fairgrounds which is right next to the only high school in the city. The casino is
estimated to bring 10 million dollars annually or 2.25% of its years gain to the community. In
addition to adding 1,700 more jobs, with an $84-Million-dollar annual wage benefits. On top of
the $5 Million one-time start up for the casino (Larocque, 2016). This could be a great way to
help boost the economy of Brockton and improve the lives of its residents, however, casinos are
known to bring more crime, increase of possible gambling addiction, prostitution and alcoholism
(Earl L. Grinols, 2006) .The chances of being involved in a violent crime in Brockton is 10.48%
per 1,000 residents which is 6.57% higher than the state average per 1,000 residents 3.91. The
chances of property related crime per 1,000 residents is 30.67% compared to the Massachusetts
state percentage of 18.57% (scout, 2016). These statistics could increase after the casino is built.
Especially because the location of it would be close to the high school that may have serious
negative influence on the students. Brocktons high school graduation rate is at 76.8%, which is
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below the Massachusetts state average of 87.3%, (2015 Graduation Rate Report for all students,
2016) and also below the national average of 81% (U.S., 2016). Homelessness is another
problem that Brockton faces however finding data on how many people are homeless is a
difficult task. There may be people who are in and out of homelessness, meaning that they may
have a place to sleep tonight but they are unsure about tomorrow. Those are the people who are
hardest to put into a percentage. Therefore, it is difficult to get an exact number if not all people
who are considered homeless go into homeless shelters where they can be accounted for. These
are just a few of the statistics that paint a picture of Brockton but what does it really look like.
Purpose
There is more to knowing about a community than just looking at statistics, going into the
community is also a key part to understanding it. The best way to go about this would be to do a
Windshield Tour. A Windshield Tour is when an individual or group goes into the chosen
community to see and take note on the feel of the community. When doing the tour, it is
important to see as much of the community as possible, the best way to do that would be to use a
car. Some examples of what one should be looking for when going into a community would be,
the types of businesses, the appearance of buildings and public areas, the kind of trash on the
ground and what people are doing. However, it is also important to get out of the car and talk to
people in the community to found out their perspective on issues. When talking to someone in
the community it is important to first get consent to ask them question, some people may be wary
to answers questions from a stranger on the street. The types of questions that asked should be
based off of what the group feels are important topics, for example if the group feels that the
school system needs improvement they should ask questions like did you go through the public
school systems and do you think the schools could be improved and how? Asking the write
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questions is the best way to get the correct information needed. Last it is important to go into the
community with an open mind, looking at all the good and bad aspects it may have. The purpose
of the windshield tour is to better understand the community and the people living in the
community. The windshield tour can be used to assess general community needs and/or to
observe more specific factors of the communitys physical, social, and economical atmosphere.
The windshield tour of Brockton provided the group with an objective view of the community by
experiencing the atmosphere at large.
Windshield Tour Process
As we started our tour the first thing we noticed we the condition of the roads were poor.
There were a lot of potholes and uneven pavement throughout. There was also a lot of traffic
with congested roads; we got cut off multiple times by people who seemed to be in a big hurry.
There are however lots of public buses for the citizens, this helps brings down traffic as well as
pollution but the roads are not equipped to handle the size of the buses at all times. As we were
driving we saw school busses dropping kids off. The kids were often let off the bus with no
parents there to pick them up and many kids walked across the street not using the cross walks or
looking if it was safe to cross. We also saw police officers driving around the city, this is both
good and bad. It is good because it means that they have officers around and ready in case they
are needed. However, it is bad because it means that there is a higher rate of violence like our
statistics showed. As we drove, one of the first places we went to was the local high school
Brockton high. The High School has recently built a new stadium for the students, which is good
because it helps promote after school programs and athletics to help keep kids out of trouble.
Along with the new stadium they also put up a statue of Rocky Balboa that is at the entrance of
the school. There is also a local YMC and Boys and Girls club for kids to use afterschool to help
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keep them out of trouble. We noticed that around the school there were a lot of fast food
restaurants as well as liquor stores. We felt that because these fast food places are so readily
available to them to go after school. There are not a lot of healthy choices for the students.
Around the area of the school was also saw a fire station and lots of cop cars stationed in the
plazas. There is also a fair ground near the school that Brockton holds community events at, this
is good because it helps to unite the community and gives people a chance to get out and talk to
others in the community they may not normally talk to and form a stronger sense of community.
However, in the past there have been violent altercations that have happened during celebrations
held at the fairgrounds. Continuing to drive around we saw a lot of local small family owned
restaurants and store but also lots of chains like Walmart where they were the only store in the
plaza. There were a lot of condemned and abandoned building thought-out the city going to
waste and they were and eye sore. The Westgate Mall is also located in Brockton where there are
lots of chain restaurants and shopping as well as a dentist and bowling alley. The mall brings a
lot of employment for locals. Brockton also has the war memorial building where they hold lots
of different events for the people in the community. Brockton has three local hospitals one of
which is a veterans hospital. They also have Brockton neighborhood health care, which is a
nonprofit multicultural organization that helps low-income families and residents with health
care needs. Brockton also has a local homeless shelter Father Bills & Mainsprings, which helps
provide housing and food for the homeless. They rely heavily on volunteer workers and have
different programs already set up for anyone who wants to volunteer. As we were driving by the
homeless shelter we saw that the roads and sidewalks had a lot of trash, mostly cigarettes butts,
junk food wrappers and fast food bags. Most of the buildings in the area of the homeless shelter
were in bad shape, they either had some form of graffiti on them or had trash in front. All

together we felt that Brockton while it does have its issues as whole the community is not as bad
as the media plays it up to be.
After understanding the data and getting a feel for the community the final step is to talk
to people in the community. People in who live in the community are the ones who know it the
best. In order to really understand what needs to be done you have to talk to the people who live
their day-to-day life seeing the needs first hands. The first person that we interviewed was a 23year-old female who was born and raised in Brockton. She lived there for the first 18 years of her
life but her family still resides there. The second person we interviewed was a 16-year-old
female who was born and still currently lives in Brockton. She is currently enrolled in Brock
High School. Here is the information we found from the people that we interviewed.
Question #1: How long have you lived in Brockton?
The first person that we spoke to had resided in Brockton for 18 years and the second person
currently lives and Brockton and has lived there for the past 16 years.
Talking to people who have lived a good portion of their lives in one community and grew up
there are the people who will best be able to give insight.
Question #2: Did You Like living there?
Both people we interviewed said that they love Brockton mostly because of their families are
there. Having family ties or other relationship connections in a community makes them feel more
connected and committed to the community as a whole.
Question #3: How do you feel about the reputation of the city?
Both people we spoke to said that the reputation of Brockton is an unfair representation; the
media plays up all the bad things that happen. Making people who do not live in Brockton or
visit think that the area is all bad when it is not.
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Question #4: What needs to be improved to make community better?

Both interviewees agreed that people in the community need to get more involved. They should
help each other more. One of them said that homeless is a big problem but most people do not
know what to do or how to help so they just ignore the problem.
The common themes in both their answers is that Brockton is not a bad community, it is just
portrayed badly in a media that does not help. They both also feel that if people were to get
involved more they would feel more inclined to improve the community because they would be
invested in it.
Summary of Community Needs
In the beginning of this processes our group started with talking about our perceptions of
Brockton, like most people we had only heard negative thing about the city. The first big
stereotype that we often heard about was all of the violence that happens there such as robberies
and gun violence. When we did research to see how accurate this was we found that yes,
Brockton does have high rates of violence and it is considered a dangerous city. However, when
we went into the community we did feel any more unsafe then if we went into providence. The
media does seem to focus on violence the violence that happens there and that does perpetuate
the stereotype. The second big stereotype we had heard about Brockton was that it is a rather
poor city and because of this most of the houses and building would reflect that. The data that we
found did supports that the average household income was significantly less than the state
average. Supporting the stereotype that it is a poor city, however when we went into the
community we found that not all areas of the city were poorly maintained. There were
neighborhoods and parks that seemed to be well maintained. The houses did not look like they
were falling apart and the parks didnt have a lot of litter or graffiti. There were areas of the city
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that matched with the preconceived ideas we had in our heads, but it was not the city as a whole
just certain area. The third stereotype we had heard many times was about how Brockton has a
lot of homelessness. Like previously stated finding data on this was incredibly difficult, therefore
before going into the community we had no factual evidence to whether or not this was accurate.
When we did go into the community we did see homeless people waiting outside of the homeless
shelter and in the general area of it. However outside of the central downtown area where the
homeless shelter was we didnt see any homeless people. We then concluded that yes, Brockton
does have a homeless problem like many other cities but the problem seems to be contained to
certain areas of cities. There from what we saw was not a lot of homeless throughout the city like
one may see in New York or Washington. The overall feel of the community that we got was not
much different from other cities we have been in. There were sections of the city that seemed
safer and nicer than other parts but at no point did we feel our lives were in danger. From how
the media portrays Brockton to be one would except to maybe feel more unsafe. Just like many
other cities in America, Brockton has its problems but it is certainly not the worst city.
Conclusions
After looking at the data, going into the community, talking to people in the community
and discussing the needs of the community, we have decided to try and do something to help the
homeless. We started by looking at the establishments in the community that we could align
ourselves with because as we talked about if class communities do not respond well to outsiders.
We found that Father Bills is always looking for people to volunteer and fundraise to help their
cause. We then started to think about how we could connect this to the schools. We came up with
getting the school involved by helping them run a fundraiser and teaching the students the things
they could do to help the homeless. We want the students to not only fundraise now but also be
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able to take what they learned and use it later. If our youth knows what they can do to help now
they will be more likely to help later on. Last we talked about what we could fundraise; the ideas
we came up with was to have people donate items for care packages. We would ask for things
like toothpaste, toothbrushes, socks or a gift card to a place like subway where they would be
able to get a good meal. We are currently in the works of getting in contact with Brockton high to
start the fundraising. Once we have the okay from the school we will contact Father Bills to tell
them about our fundraiser and get them involved. This project is a great way to connect the
school and community in a common goal. Our main goal is to teach the kids of Brockton how
they can help their community so hopefully they can do this again in the future to educate other
and keep helping the homeless.

Bibliography
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http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/state_report/gradrates.aspx
Centers for Disease Control and Preventions. (2015, December). National Homeless
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Clark, C. D. (1996). Getting it Together: Social and Institutional Obstacles to Getting
off the Streets. Sociological Forum , 11, No. 1, 25-40.
Data, C. (2016, Feburary 27). Brockton, Massachusetts. Retrieved from City Data :
http://www.city-data.com/city/Brockton-Massachusetts.html
Earl L. Grinols, D. B. (2006). Casinos, Crime, and Community Costs. The President
and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Info, C. T. (2016, Feburary 26th). Brockton, Massachusettes . Retrieved from City
Town Info: http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/massachusetts/brockton
Larocque, M. (2016, Feburary 23). Tuesday meeting last chance for public comment
on Brockton casino plan. The Enterpise .
Scout, N. (2016, feburary 27). Crime rates for Brockton, MA. Retrieved from
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U.S. (2016, Feburary ). U.S. High School Graduation Rate Hits New Record High.
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